Toluu

Real World Illustrator

TECHNIQUE: Unembedding ImagesNovember 25

Most people are aware that Illustrator allows you to place raster-based images (i.e., photographs) into your document. When doing so, you can choose to have that image linked or embedded. Likewise, once an image is already linked, you can choose to embed that image at any time by selecting the image on your artboard and clicking on the Embed button in the Control panel.

In my book, I detail the pros and cons of linking vs. embedding, but above that discussion is a request that I hear often enough. There are times when you have an image that is embedded in an Illustrator document, and you want to unembed that image. How does one go about doing that? This can be especially useful when you receive a file from someone else, and there are embedded images which you'd like to process or touch up in Photoshop.

In the past, there have been plugins or scripts that have come and gone to help with this specific task, but Jean Claude Tremblay has brought a technique to my attention that I was not aware of. It's actually pretty awesome if you ask me. For those who don't know, Jean Claude (JC as he's known amongst friends) is the Technical Editor of the Real World Illustrator book (including the soon-to-be-published CS4 edition). The technique is simple, straightforward, and utilizes a setting in Photoshop that I was not previously aware of. Let's take a look.

1. If your file contains embedded images, simply save the file as a Native Illustrator Document fi

New Script "Sews" Illustrator Text TogetherNovember 24

Many are familiar with a common challenge in Illustrator -- a bunch of text that should all be contained within a single string of text, but that instead is broken up and spread about your file as multiple individual text blocks. This can happen for a variety of reasons, but most commonly it is because you've moved text from the newer text engine that was added in Illustrator CS to an older version (or "legacy" version) of Illustrator, or because you've opened a generic PDF file.

Many people aren't aware that you can simply select all of the individual text objects, choose Edit > Copy, and then simply paste into an existing text object -- all the text will be magically "sewn together" into a single string. There are also several scripts out there (Rick Johnson's Concat Text being one of them) that help this process along as well, without the manual process of copying and pasting.

Now, Justin Putney and Amy Petersen of Ajar Productions, have developed a script as well, which when run, throws up a dialog box asking how you'd like to join the text (other scripts usually rely on stacking order or the order in which the text was created). In addition, the script is installed using Adobe's Extension Manager, which is actually a nice little AIR application that Flash, Dreamweaver and Fireworks have utilized in the past, but it's refreshing to see it being

Trial versions of CS4 now available on Adobe.comNovember 11

If you've been waiting to give Illustrator CS4 a whirl before you decide to buy, part of that wait is now over. Adobe has now posted trial versions of Illustrator CS4 as well as all other CS4 application. I say the wait is partially over because now the next step of waiting begins -- waiting for the download that is...

So head over to Adobe.com and see for yourself if multiple artboards, the Blob Brush, and new gradients in Illustrator CS4 live up to the hype.

Mordy @ Adobe MAX 2008: San FranciscoNovember 6

Anyone going to be attending Adobe's upcoming MAX conference in San Francisco (11/16/08 - 11/20/08)? If so, I hope to see you there! I will be at the show the entire week and will be giving the following sessions:

- Russell Brown is doing his awesome hands-on ADIM class at MAX this year, and I'll be doing several special presentations on Thermo.

- On Monday, from 11:30 - 12:30, I'm giving a special presentation sponsored by Lynda.com. The title of the presentation is "A Hidden Gem in Illustrator: Live Paint". It's a life-changing session.

- On Wednesday, from 9:30 - 10:30, I"m giving a session called "Designing for Mobile with Creative Suite 4 and Adobe Device Central CS4". That's a long title, don't you think? It will be a fun session focused on designing for mobile.

I'll also be hanging out at the Partner Lounge, as MOGO Media will have a presence there. If you're around, try to stop by! I always love meeting up with my readers!

CS4: Be Smart - Give Smart Guides a ChanceNovember 3

If you have Illustrator CS4, you have undoubtedly noticed something different since you started using it. As you mouse around your screen, objects "light up" and words like "path" and "anchor" pop up everywhere. These are all part of the Smart Guides feature found in Illustrator -- and in CS4, Adobe has decided to ship the product with the feature turned on.

The immediate reaction from most people is to yell out in frustration and quickly find a way to turn the feature off. After all, nothing is more annoying than paths and anchors highlighting all over the screen as you move your mouse around. And in all honesty, I agree -- Smart Guides in this way is totally annoying -- I too would turn it off. While I could probably find some benefit to having the boundaries of paths light up, I can find even less reasons for having Illustrator identify objects as "paths" or "anchors" -- first of all, I like to think I'm smart enough to figure that out on my own, and second, what can I DO with that info? When would there EVER be a reason for why I'd need to have something identified as a path or an anchor?

OK, so most people run to the View menu and choose Smart Guides -- which effectively disables the Smart Guides feature in Illustrator. Here's where I offer my plea: Don't turn off Smart Guides. There are just too many important benefits to the feature, and by turning it off, you are doing yourself a disservice, especially so in Illustrator CS4. Let me explain.